Hello, so here I am yet again trying to think of a theme that’s not going to bore all of you to death. This week was a little more busy for me and I almost found myself making me excuses that normal people usually make as to why they can’t do certain things. I’m really glad I didn’t fall into that metal trap like most people do. I do admit that being much busier did have an impact on my activity on social media to promote the band and our upcoming show in Salem, MA. But luckily, I figured out how to organize myself a little bit better so that these things don’t keep piling up. Here’s the flyer and the event link btw.

I’m sure it’s apparent to most of you by now that one thing I’m referring to is, Change. After all, it’s one of the few things that’s guaranteed in life. And then when we need it, we choose not to change. I think mostly because, even though a certain situation be it a relationship that has gone sour, a job or living situation we have outgrown or anything else that warrants a change regardless of the fact that it is toxic, it’s what were used to. I myself have done this several times and I have watched as the end result was truly disastrous and I believe on more than one occasion, I have shared some of these experiences here. But, think about some things that you witnessed changed for the better. I remember reading somewhere that early on in his career, Willie Nelson had a completely different sound like most of us have probably never heard and had he continued he continued to stick with that sound there’s a good chance that none of us would even know who he is today. There are plenty of other examples we could focus on but I’m sure you see where I’m going with this. I have recently found myself in need of some changes, simply because certain things aren’t working out like they could have. It’s forcing me to try and stay more focused, organized and discuss ideas with others. And of course, taking a good look at what my peers are doing and how these things are working out for them. One of the changes I am looking forward to is, attending more shows. I actually have one or two friends that can point me in the right direction for that if I didn’t find something to attend that night myself. You never know who you’ll run into or what else you may discover

I remember awhile back, a few years ago actually going out to see a friend, David Milone play at two different clubs here in NYC that are now both gone(go figure) doing some acoustic sets. I noticed that he had played a song from Electric Light Orchestra,aka ELO, or Jeff Lynne’s ELO. The song was their hit “Turn to Stone” and it was very interesting hearing a different version of this song without the parts of a full band, but also added nuances if you will that are unique to their sound, like Soprano backing vocals and of course orchestrated music with an electrified feel. ELO really personified that 1970’s sound, yet I was able to learn some the songs to play acoustically as well. You see what just happened there? I took the time to see my friend play some shows again, and I ended getting turned onto more music that I decided to perform myself during my solo acoustic shows. I don’t think this was some epic change in my life but I have no idea how great that band truly was before seeing Dave playing their song. In all fairness, I have seen Dave play with another band Ours several times over the years, so I knew I was definitely going to see something I would enjoy. Many times people are reluctant to check something new, not just a band but anything(laundry detergent,gum,etc), because they don’t have “buyer’s assurance” that they are getting what they paid for. And you can obtain that by making people familiar with your music and who you are. Hence why I decided to ramble on like this for over two paragraphs lol. So to break it up, here is some of the video I took of Dave’s performance that I took :

I am hoping that some the changes I started to make with interacting with other bands, fans and other people involved in music will help bring on some much needed progress. This busy week has made me neglect updating my weekly passage in the Rock/Star life planner(sorry Suz)but I think I’m making up for it today by watching a live stream of very informative music conference. So I’m pretty proud of myself that “life” didn’t derail me like it has some many others. I have a “career” job and I’m about to watch a seminar about how to quit your job. I often hear the response “where are you going to go?” my Answer from now up will be “Up”. While else would you leave your stable, hourly based job that is slowly killing you if you’re not planning on going Up? But, One important thing to do is : Change. The one thing in my weekly updates that I have to work on is Attitude. For me it has been something that has held me back since I was a kid. But, what can I say I am from New Jersey? Hey one of us even wrote a song about having an attitude.

In all seriousness, if we want things to change for the better we should change our actions. After all, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. And if there is anything you want to share about making positive changes that resulted being more successful feel free to share in the comments. Because this about me speaking my mind, I am hoping that I have encouraged someone to make this changes they need to make and I am looking for answers myself. Thanks again for reading and enjoy a few songs that inspired this post. I decided to post this live David Bowie video because it is easier to interpret the meaning of the song and its great see him once again.

And another song by one of my main influences that was very different from most of their other songs. It somewhat inspired me to write a different song on my new album called “An Autumn Night” . This was inspired by all the changes Ozzy and Black Sabbath were going through as people after being successful as a band.

Thank you all for reading again. Please subscribe and be sure to click on the link to find out more info on my band’s new album

the Sorrows

Thanks again, and wish us good luck next Friday in Salem. Nate xoxo